Method of making shoes



W. C. STEWART. METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6. 1917.

1 mm June 8, 1920.

WVE/VTJR. 74%; jam

UNITED srnrss WILLIAM G. STEWART, or sWAMrsoor'r, MAssAcHUsE'rrs,assrcrivon, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF JERSEY.

' Specification of Letters Batent.

or PATERSON,

' Application filed. September 6, 1917. Serial No. 189,933.

To all whom it may concern: 7 i

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. STEWART, a subject of the King of England, residing at Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Methods of Making Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. I

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and more particularly to improvements in methods of manufacturing shoes;

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved method of manufacturing shoes the practice of which will effect an improvement in the quality and uniformity of the shoes produced and an economy in the cost of'producing the shoes.

In the manufacture of shoes the insole, or it may be a sole, to which the shoe upper is to be secured is positioned on the bottom of a last which is of the shape desired for the finished shoe and over whichthe shoe upper is to be conformed in the making operations. When the variousoperations on the shoe have been completed, the last is withdrawn and the insole remains as the form largely determining and maintaining the desired shape of the shoe during its wear. It is, therefore, important initially to position theinsole accurately on the last and to secure it against displacement thereon during succeeding operations so that after the last is withdrawn from the shoe it shall have the intended contour and style. It has heretoforebeen customary to place the insole on the bottom of the last and secure it in position with three to seven tacks driven perpendicularly through it and into the last bottom. These tacks necessarily have to be pulled out before they are covered up by the outsole so that the last can be removed from the shoe. Also in order to enable the insole securingtacks readily to be pulled they must be located far enough inwardly from the margin of the insole to remain uncovered by the lasted-inmargin of the shoe upper and consequently the tacks fare'not enabled to hold the margin or feather of the insole down to the bottom of the last. This condition is directly opposed to a proper lasting of the shoe because in order shoes in which the edge'of the sole extends beyond the edgeof the last and also in mak- Patented June 8, 1920.

"PATEN OFFICE.

ing light-weight welt shoes in which the T feather of the insole is thin,'this difliculty is particularly troublesome. -In fact, the

conditions are so serious as to necessitate the construction of special'equipment'for pulling over and lasting machines to hold down the feathers of soles'and insoles on the last bottoms while the shoe parts are being worked over on the shoe bottoms. Moreover, special machines have had to be devised for pulling out the insole fastening.

tacks after the shoe upper has been secured toits insole, and it is difficult even with the 7 use of these machines or with hand work to insure that every tack is pulled andthat the head of the tack is not broken off, with the shank of the tack remaining in the in sole with the consequent liability of injury to the wearer. Some shoe manufacturers incur the expenseof employing help to examine the inside of each shoe for tacks before'the shoes are packed for sale.

XVith. the above, conditions in view, the present invention aims to provide a method of securing'soles or insoles to lasts which will eliminate among others the difliculties and disadvantages above noted and ma-' terially reduce the labor and machine cost incident to the prior practice. As has already been indicated, the invention is applicable to the securing to a last not only of the insole of a double soled shoe but also of the sole of a single soled shoe and, therea Y the side face of the last and caused to adhere so as to bind the feather of the sole firmly pressedagainst the last bottom.

'After theupper has been applied to the last and the succeeding operations upon the shoecompleted, the withdrawing of the last from the "shoe acts to tear the portion of the binder,

that adheres to the last from the portion that remains connected toithe insole, which latter portion may stay in the shoe without disadA vantage.

In another of'its aspects, the invention consists in weakening or disrupting the binding strip as an incident to the perform- 'ance of succeeding operations on theshoe after the shoe upper has been secured to the insole so that the binder strip offers little, if any, resistance: during the last pulling'operation. This weakening or destroyv 'ing of the binderis particularly applicable to the-manufacture of shoes or the type in which the insole or sole has a sewing rib provided on'its upper surface." In making shoes of. these types, the 1 sewing needle,

- during the attachment of the upper to a the lasting wipers in wiping the margin of "the shoe upper into the angle against the occurs afterthe purpose of the binder has sole or insole, serves to perforate the binder where it bridges from the feather to the sewing rib and more or less completely severs the portion on the insole from the portion on the last. Also, thefoperation of sewing'ribmay tear thebinders, but this I tages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying draw ingsjand the invention will then be defined in the appended claims. i

- Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view illustrating an insole fastened to'its last without the use oftacks and in accordance' with the present invention Fig, 2 is a perspective illustrating how the binders are perforated by the welt sew ing needle in the practice of the present in vention in the manufacture of welt shoes. By way of'illustration the invention is herein shown as being practised in connection with the manufacture of a welt shoe in which case the insole 2 is provided with a sewing rib 4. In carrying out the process of the invention the insole 2 is initially placed in position upon the bottom of a last 6 of desired shape over which a shoe upper 8 isto be conformed by usual pullingover and lasting operations. The insole having been positioned accurately with the edge flush with the edge of the last, is then firmly secured in its assembled position on the last withthe margin or feather portion 10 of the insole securely held down on the last bottom by'means of a plurality ofbinders 12, shown as narrow strips of easily tearable adhesive coated paper of alength to extend from the upper surface of the insole outwardly over the sewing rib e to the side faces of the last. Preferably the strips will be located'at the toe and at substantially the tip line, ball line and heel breast line on either side of the insole. p

In applying the binding strips to the insole the adhesive coating on the under side of the strips is treated to cause it to adhere and the'inner end: of the strips pressed down ontogthe surface of the insole within thesewing 'rib thestrip being then drawn tight over the edge of the insole and last and its outer end folded over againstzthe L side of theilast. The binding strips may be applied in such manner as to bridge from the sewing .rib over the feather to the side of the last, as indicated in Fig. 1, although if desiredthey maybe formed'into the angle between the feather 10 and the upstanding rib onthe insole. It will thus be seen that the insole is firmly secured against displacement on. theflast bottom o and the margin of the insole held firmly .7 down on the last bottom. The shoe upper 8 is-then assembled on the last and the succeeding operations on the shoe e. gf pulling over, lasting, bottoming and finishing, performed in the usual by the pulling-over and lasting operationsis effectually prevented.

In making shoes'with the aid of a bed lasting machine the wipers are enabled to wipe the upper in over on to the insole and into position to be fastened by the usual toe binding wire against the sewing rib 4 without liability of the wipers displacing the margin of the sole and consequently enabling a better defined and more uniform margin for the shoe to be obtained. The operation of the wipersat the toe of the shoe serves, if the binding strip bridges the angle betweenthe feather and the sewing rib, to breakdown or destroy the binding as the upper is wipedinto final position on the shoe bottom, so that when the lastis withdrawn thebinding strip at the toe of the insole does not resist the last pulling operation. When the welt 14 and upper are secured to the insole by the inseam stitches 16 the needle of the sewing machine serves to weaken the binding strips by-perforating them as indicatedat' 18. Thus each of the binding strips is either broken or weakened 10's wipe up the side faces of the lastand then eas es character of the binding strips edgewise, in

addition to the weakening or destroying of the binding strips 12 during the lasting and inseam stitching operations on the shoe, causes them to offer little; or no resistance to the withdrawalof the last from the shoe. The portions of the binding strips which remain attached to the insole located on the under side of the insole are completely hidden in the completed shoe so that they may remainin the shoe without disadvantage. By securing the insole in position to a last as thus described, the bottom of the last is not damaged as with the tacks heretofore used and the cost incident to the labor and machines required by the use of tacks for se curing the insole is eliminated. In addition, a better appearing and more uniform product is made possible since a more accurate pulling-over and lasting" condition is obtained than when tacks are used.

A further important advantage'obtained by the use of the described method is the elimination of the necessity for specially designed devices on the pulling-over and lasting machines to maintain the margin of the insole firmly held down on to the bottom of the last during the operations of'the machine.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letter Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in locating an insole on a last bottom, binding the margin of the insole to the last,.assembling an upper on the last, and lasting the upper over the margin of the insole while said margin is bound to the last.

2. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in locating an insole on a last bottom, binding the margin of the insole to the last, and then sewing an upper to the insole and impairing the eifectiveness of the binder as an incident to the sewing operation.

3. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in locating an insole on a last bottom and binding the margin, of the insole to the last, applying an upper to the last and insole,-working the margin of the upper over the last and securing it against the rib. of the insole and disrupting the insole binder as an incident to the operations on the shoe after the shoe upper has been folded over the edge of the insole.

4. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in locating an insole on a last bottom, and applying a narrow binder of sheet material to the margin of the insole and bending it down across the edge of the insole and against the side of the last into position to hold the edge of the insole flush with the side of the last,

assembling an upper on the last and lasting the upper over the margin of the insole while said margin is bound to the last. 5. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in'locating on a last bottom an insole, bending down across the edge of the insole a binder aflixed to the insole and securing the binder to the side face of the last, assembling an upper on the last, and lasting the upper over the margin of the insole while said margin is bound to the last. i

' 6. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists'in locating on a last bottom an insole, bending down. across the edge of the insole a binder aflixed to the insole and securing the binder to the side face of the last, repeating the operation of bending down and securing binders at a plurality of points to confine the insole in position with its edge flush with the side face of the last, assembling an upper on the last, and lasting the upper over the mar in of the insole while said margin is bound to the last. 7 V I Y 7. That improvement in the art ,of

making shoes which consists in locating on a last bottom an insole, bending down" across the edge of the insole a binder afiixed to,

the insole and securing the binder to the side face of the last; lasting an upper over the insole margin and the binder; and sewing the upper to the'insole and perforating I the binder during the sewing operation.

' 8. That improvement in the art of making shoes whichconsists in locating on a last bottom an insole having a sewing rib, fastening the insole in place by binders extending outwardly over the sewing rib and feather of the insole and downwardly along and adhering to the side face of the last,'applying an upper, and sewing the upper to the rib of the insole and perforating the binders during the sewing operation.

9. That improvement in the art ofmaking shoes which consists in locating on a last bottom an insole having a sewing rib, fastening the insole in place by binders extending outwardly over the sewing rib and feather of the insole and downwardly along and adhering to the side face ofthe last, applying an upper, and lasting the upper over the feather and against the sewing rib and rupturing the binders between the rib and the last by the lasting pressure.

10. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in locating on a last bottom an insole having a sewing rib,

along and adhering to the side face of the last, applying an upper, sewingvthe upper to the rib of the insole and perforating the binders during the sewing (operation,

and pulling theylast from the shoe and breaking the portion of the binders that adheres to the last from the portion above the line of perforations made duringthe sewing operation. 1

11. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in connecting V bindersof frangible sheet material to an insole at a plurality ofpoints around its periphery and locating the insole on a last, adhesively connecting the binder ends with the side face of the last to securethe insole in place and hold its margin down, to

the last, applying a shoe upper and securing it to the insole, and withdrawing the last and tearing the portions of binders which adhere to the last from the portions which 7 are connected to the insole.

' ing shoeswhich consists in holding the feather of aninsole down upon a last bot 12. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in securing the margin of an insole to a last by adhesive paper binders, applying and securing an upper, and withdrawing the last from the shoe and tearing the portions of the binders which adhere to the last from the portions which are connected tothe insole;

13. That improvement in the art of maktom by adhesive binding strips that extend down across the edge of-the insole and are 'stuckto the side otthe last, applyingthe upperand'shaping it over the feather and securing 'it, andqpulling the last and; tearing the binders 'as the last is withdrawn from theshoe.

14. That improvementiin the art of mak- 7 ing shoes which consists in securing the margin of an insole down upon a last bottom at the sides of the toe and forepart by binders that are connected to the sides of the last and to the insole, assembling an up per and lastingrit over the margin of the V insole whileithe insole is so secured, and eflast from the shoe by a movement ofthe last longitudinally of the shoeuntil the holding means secured V to j the 7 lastis disconnected from the insole. I v

In testimony whereofT have signed my I 7 name to this specification.

WILLIAM C. STEWART. 

